Do you want to be blessed? I'm sure you do. Everybody wants to be blessed in almost every area of life: finances, health, relationships, name it. It's a good thing to be blessed.
While it's not wrong to want to be blessed, the moment we chase after the blessing more that we do God, that's going to be a big problem. Consider Paul's warning:
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil. While coveting after money, some have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Timothy 6:9-10)
Getting ourselves pierced with many sorrows is a truly sorrowful thing. Do you want to be blessed without the danger of piercing yourself with something you'll regret someday? Here are some ways to be blessed, according to the Bible.
1) Keep God's commandments
God loves to bless those who obey Him. While He's a fierce enemy to those who hate Him and commit sin, He's a wonderful Father and friend to all who love Him. He said in Exodus 20:6 that He loves "showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
2) Honor your parents
This has been forgotten by many. God wants us to honor our father and mother no matter how imperfect they may be. When we do that, we are promised that our "days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." (see Exodus 20:12)
3) Ask God for it
Why be jealous of other Christians when we can ask our Father God to bless us too? James tells us not to covet what others have. Instead, we are to ask God for blessings.
"You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask." (James 4:2)
Ok, so we've tried asking God for blessings but He didn't give us what we asked for. James says maybe we're asking God for the wrong reasons – maybe it's because we are jealous of others, or perhaps want to be blessed for selfish reasons. That is so wrong.
James tells us, "You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions." (James 4:3)
4) Be a blessing to others
The Bible teaches us the principle of sowing and reaping. Simply put, if we want to reap blessings, we sow it. Choose to be a blessing to others, and see how God blesses you so that you can continue to be a blessing.
Proverbs 11:25 tells us, "The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself."
5) Simply be in Christ
The best way to be blessed? To simply be in Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Ephesians 1:3 tells us,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."
It ultimately comes down to knowing Christ's value: His value is greater than anything else in your life so keep Him first and greatest - always. We are already blessed with all the spiritual blessing we could ever need and long for in Christ. This is why we could declare with David the lines of Psalm 23, saying,
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
